National Minorities commission chairman Wajahat Habibullah said it is debatable whether reservations for oppressed groups have benefited the targeted groups, and there is a need to study it.
The commission has undertaken a study to appraise the impact of reservations. He said that even in the US, where affirmative action policies have been evolved and implemented for blacks, the targeted group did not always benefit from it.
On the issue of the raging controversy over 9% reservation for Muslims in Uttar Pradesh as part of the 27% quota for OBCs, Habibullah said that there is nothing anomalous about it.
The backward class groups who happen to be Muslim are entitled to reservations under the Mandal scheme but they have not benefited from it, he said. It has not been a level-playing field as some of the backward class groups benefited from it while others were excluded. There is nothing anomalous if these backward class Muslim groups like the weavers are specifically mentioned in the reservation category.
Comments